Why are we seeing more young running phenoms these days?

Another thing to note is that many of these recent phenoms have continued to improve and are doing well in college.

I think people seem to automatically think that a runner running well at a young age will "burn out" when honestly 90% of these runners could have successful careers if they had proper and good coaching... something we are starting to see more of now.

the internet

I honestly think you can't forget the Runners World effect. The downturn in US distance running came when RW was "telling" readers that less is more- you could achieve results by running fewer miles and avoiding burnout. Kids used this as an excuse to run fewer miles and we went through a bad patch.

6 or 7 years ago a very good girl runner asked her coach and me (I coach at another school) why they weren't as good as the runners from the past. We said it was simple- they ran more. She did, others followed and our area has some very good distance runners.

I think a lot of people realized that and kids aren't afraid to run mega miles so they are improving.

I'm seeing the same thing in the hs competition in my area. Before, there was always talk of burnout if a runner ran a bunch in the offseason. But now that a few have done it successfully, the other kids have begun to realize what it takes to be competitive.

Not sure why we have these kids running so fast, but in the story linked below, her mother is referred to as the "former April Beaver". Sounds like a Hustler pictorial.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/11/27/2176321/baxter-runs-in-hasays-footsteps.html

Cow milk loaded with growth hormones.

menjo bandwaggoner wrote:

I'm seeing the same thing in the hs competition in my area. Before, there was always talk of burnout if a runner ran a bunch in the offseason. But now that a few have done it successfully, the other kids have begun to realize what it takes to be competitive.

Yes! The burnout factor. We had a kid once who thought running at all on recovery days would burn him out. He complained that the coach was over training them with like 5 miles a day (I wasn't the coach then).

The kid couldn't break 18:00 for 5K and he thought he was good. He wouldn't make my top 7 JV's at the same school 15 years later.

One good thing, though, is that more of the best girls are upperclassmen instead of freshmen. At Foot Locker Finals this year, almost all of the top kids were seniors. Some of the top NXN girls were younger, but overall I think there's a trend toward girls doing better at the end of their prep careers ... then hopefully continuing on. Two examples: young phenoms Emily Sisson and Katie Flood went through ups and downs, then ran their best as seniors and are doing well as college frosh.

Yes, and also last year for example at the CA state meet in the 3200 (and the CA state meet was LOADED last year with incredible depth), almost all of the runners were upperclassmen, and all of the top runners were as well.

I really think that a lot of young runners "burning out" could easily be prevented in most cases, and a lot of the top runners you see today are running more mileage and not burning out on anaerobic work. Just because a runner runs well at a young age does not mean that she will be doomed later on, and we are seeing less of that now.

Somehow I think they've always been there. Most schools have sports, especially xc and track so it's available to many student athletes. Also, because of the media. Since America is so hung up on winning we're always looking for "the next big thing"

All of the HS female frosh phenoms I've seen weren't doing more than maybe 40 mpw max. Believe it or not, it's mostly off of raw talent and not the mega miles you speak of. Rarely, when you have a really young girl running really good times, is it because of super hard training.

I guess I'm talking my own local experience. One girl from my school made states her junior year. That same time 4 years later would have made her my team's 9th runner and we werre the 2nd best team in our region.

Why? More miles. Not mega, just more. Like 25 or so to 40 or so.

I have a daughter that in 7th grade ran 2.21 800 and 5.11 1600. She trains about 8 to 10 miles per week when not playing other sports, then it would be less. She has run 27 for 200 after running those 800 or 1600 times, in gym shoes. This fall she ran 4 cross events and won them all, beating kids who trained long distance and never lost before. We do hard interval work and she doesn't like to lose.

whatever5607 wrote:

I have a daughter that in 7th grade ran 2.21 800 and 5.11 1600. She trains about 8 to 10 miles per week when not playing other sports, then it would be less. She has run 27 for 200 after running those 800 or 1600 times, in gym shoes. This fall she ran 4 cross events and won them all, beating kids who trained long distance and never lost before. We do hard interval work and she doesn't like to lose.

Get her to call Josh McDougal about that Hyperbolic Time Chamber. She'll be ready for London by the time she's done in there.

No way, those are Jordan Hasay like times. If this is true, you have someone extremely, extremely talented on your hands.

It's true. She has only lost twice and that was when she was sick. She ran a race with national level athletes and only managed a 4.51 1500. 2010 was really the first year she tried to race as she has been playing other sports at a high level. She did race twice when she was 10 and then not again until 13. She is now 14 and I can tell you we train to be athletic and she is tough. She is 112 pounds and can bench 130 and do about 25 full extension pull-ups and chin-ups. I encourage responses because we are really trying to figure out which direction she might want to go with her sports.

It's all about training more and properly.

Hasay would hardly be a 'phenom' compared to the times similar aged girls in the UK are doing.

It's what they do after high school that matters though.

Be careful with her, it sounds like you have a competitive and talented athlete. I know its been said a thousand times but don't let her burnout.

We are trying to be careful. The problem is that with team sports kids can only train as hard as the rest. With running, I have found that individuals that have good work ethic will train as hard as you want them. If you tell someone to run at 80% it will be different effort from some, and it isn’t because of ability it’s because of desire. When someone always trains hard its easy for some coaches to burn them out or injure them. I have always trained her with great obvious results. Some coaches want to take her and totally change her work outs because it is what they know or been told. Like I said earlier we train to be athletic, which means she plays lots of sports and trains for what she is doing and enjoys being a kid. Seriously if you knew the success this girl has had in sports you like me would wonder why someone wants to change anything.